Volume 168, Issue 2

The scholia vetera on Works 734–735 are transmitted not only by the manuscript tradition of Hesiod, but also by an entry of the Etymologicum Genuinum . The latter, hitherto largely ignored, offers in several places a better text than the scholia of the Hesiod manuscripts. Particularly significant is the presence of an unpublished fragment of Zeno, who is said to have recommended not copulating while drunk. Analysis of parallels and material-historical specificities of the scholarly tradition relating to Hesiod reveals that this passage should be included (at least as a dubium ) among the fragments of Plutarch’s lost commentary on Hesiod’s Works and Days . Quite surprisingly, it is likely that Proclus is not involved in the transmission of this fragment at all.

The rich apparatus of scholia and marginalia transmitted in Lucian’s manuscripts can prove of vital help for the constitutio textus of his writings. On the one hand, their ancient and stratified origin makes it possible that they preserve traces of an earlier stage of Lucian’s text, both directly, through explicit quotations of lost variants, and indirectly, through hints given in the explanations of lemmas. On the other hand, they may allow us to recognise as problematic passages that otherwise would go unnoticed, especially in the case of intruded glosses which convey a coherent and not suspect text. The Lexiphanes , with its deliberately absurd and confused vocabulary, represents a perfect case study for the peculiar situation where it is hard to state whether a text is corrupt or not. In the present article, three textual passages from this Lucianic dialogue ( Lex. 1; 3; 6) will be analysed. In all three cases, hitherto unnoticed errors will be detected and new corrections will be proposed thanks to the direct or indirect help given by the scholia and marginalia found in manuscripts.

The finale of Ovid’s Metamorphoses contains a sphragis in which the poet proclaims the immortality of his poetic work and the eternal survival of his pars melior (Ov. Met. 15.871–879). These lines present a number of rather close parallels with excerpts from the seventh suasoria of Seneca the Elder’s collection, whose theme is Deliberat Cicero an scripta sua comburat promittente Antonio incolumitatem, si fecisset . Allusions to this declamatory exercise may activate in the Ovidian passage a reference to the theme of book-burning, evoked especially by the term ignis in line 871: this form of censorship against authors disliked by the imperial regime began to appear toward the end of Augustus’ principate, in the very same years when Ovid completed the composition of his Metamorphoses , before in turn being exiled by Augustus (an event to which the phrase Iovis ira , again in line 871, may allude). But at the same time, in the face of such a possible threat, Ovid affirms the certainty that his work will nonetheless prove stronger than fire and grant him perpetual life.

This short article, which starts with a reconsideration of the philosophical characterization of Statius’ Capaneus, aims at investigating the reception of the mythical figure of Capaneus in Hellenistic philosophy. Both among the Stoics (Zeno and, maybe, Chrysippus, according to Diogenes Laertius and Athenaeus) and the Epicureans (Philodemus in P.Herc. 452 olim 463, fr. 13), Capaneus occurs in the philosophical discourse on the definition of the sage, albeit with different nuances and reference texts. Statius, Neapolitan poeta doctus with Stoic and Epicurean patroni , may have drawn insights from this intellectual environment to provide his Capaneus with philosophical overtones. In the last paragraph it is cautiously suggested, on the basis of P.Herc. 452 olim 463, fr. 13, that Lucretius’ Epicurus in the well-known prologue of the De rerum natura – a model for Statius’ Capaneus – may have been influenced by the Epicurean reception of Capaneus.

This contribution aims to present some reflections regarding the text of the poetica tempestas in the Historia Apollonii regis Tyri (§ 11), which has always posed significant challenges to editors and commentators of this Late Antique novel. The investigation focuses particularly on the version contained in the earliest surviving redaction (RA), highlighting the poem’s debts to the Latin poetic tradition and proposing three suggestions for the constitution of the text. The aim is to demonstrate that this poetic insert is the product of a versifier with solid scholastic training and considerable qualities, certainly not inferior to those exhibited by the redactor of RB.

In Etym . 3.53.1 and Nat . 18.1, Isidore of Seville describes the nature of moonlight, primarily drawing on Augustine’s commentary on Psalm 10. In the chapter of De natura rerum , he also explores specific allegorical meanings of the moon, already established in patristic exegesis, particularly referencing the symbolism of the resurrection of the dead. To indicate the shining part of the moon’s surface, Isidore employs the rare adjectival compound lucifluus , first attested in Juvencus’ Evangeliorum libri with reference to the sun and, metaphorically, to the Gospel. Significantly, this adjective is already used in a context similar to Isidore’s, in the second sermon ( De resurrectione ) of the first book of the Tractatus by Zeno of Verona ( Tract . 1.2.19). In this sermon, the author offers a brief allegorical excursus on the moon, interpreting it as a symbol of mortal man and his future resurrection at the end of time. With some distinctions, he uses the same adjective to describe the brightness of the sun in relation to that of the moon. This close analogy in context and content suggests that Isidore, particularly in the passage from De natura rerum , might have considered Zeno’s sermon when reusing the term lucifluus .

The bucolic poet Martius Valerius used to be dated to the twelfth century, but has now been securely assigned to the sixth; articles on his work should therefore be published in journals not of medieval, but of classical philology. The present brief contribution proposes a new solution to the two riddles that Martius, following the example of Virgil, included at the end of his third eclogue. These solutions are then put into the context of the commentary tradition on Virgil’s Bucolics.

The paper offers a new interpretation of the Life of Ovid in the Scriptorum illustrium Latinae linguae libri XVIII of Sicco Polenton. While so far scholarship has mostly criticized the lack of historical and philological accuracy in this Life and Sicco’s dependency on medieval speculations, the paper tries to take a closer look at the implications of Sicco’s own methodological stance towards poetry, historiography and rhetoric. A discussion follows whether Sicco’s own biography has shaped his outlook on the ancient poet, and to what extent Sicco’s treatment of Ovid’s relegation can be integrated into an early humanist tradition of anti-tyrannical discourse. It is argued that both Sicco’s literary ideals and the elaboration of the Life of Ovid , especially the description of the exile, reflect Sicco’s own life story and social background, but also his fundamental purpose of promoting his humanistic teaching.